Chapter #4 - Queen Of The Digital World
"They have arrived. I can feel them," a beautiful and tall woman with long brown hair said to the figure that stood before her.
"Shall I welcome them my lady?" the figure asked.
"No… let them come to us," the woman replied.
"As you wish my Queen," the figure bowed.
Meanwhile the digidestined were walking through the digital village.
"This place is really beautiful," Sora said as she looked around in awe.
"The flowers smell wonderful," Palmon beamed as she sniffed a rose in one of the many gardens that lined the pathway.
Everything here seemed so perfect… perhaps too perfect.
"I would really like to learn how you transport this whole village from place to place. It is truly fascinating," Izzi stated.
"Perhaps the queen would explain it to you if you asked," Caninemon said calmly.
They soon made it to a castle inside the castle. It had gigantic doors guarded by various digimon. A Leomon and a Renamon stood in front of the other guards calmly and looked over the digidestined as though they where deciding what to do with them.
Davis gulped then walked to the front, "Hi there, I'm Davis. Me and my friends came here to see if your queen could help us find our friends."
The Renamon didn't seem too impressed but the Leomon smiled slightly, "We have been expecting you. Follow us… You as well Caninemon. The Queen wishes to have a word with you."
Caninemon nodded and followed behind the two larger digimon.
"Hello," Biyomon smiled to the Renamon who just ignored her. Biyomon looked down to the ground then flapped her wings and hopped onto Sora's shoulder.
"Your queen isn't mad at us is she? We didn't mean any harm by coming here," Cody stated.
Caninemon smiled and laughed slightly, "Of course she'd not mad. She's been waiting for you."
"Why do people keep saying that? How'd she know we were coming here?" Tai asked suspiciously.
"Ya… We barely even knew where we were going," Agumon added.
"Our Queen knows you better then you know yourselves," Renamon said expressionless.
"How does she know us? We've never heard of her before," Izzy asks a bit confused.
"Ya… We digimon haven't even heard of her… Or at least I haven't," Gabumon said.
"Where'd she come from and how come we never heard of her?" Hawkmon asked.
"In order to protect her, her existence must be kept a secret," Leomon explained.
"But why does her existence have to be kept a secret?" Matt asked curiously.
"She is our Queen. We need her. The digital world needs her," Leomon said.
"But…" Davis started but Leomon stopped him.
"All will be explained in due time," Leomon said as they stopped in front of a large set of doors.
Renamon motioned for the two guards to open the doors. The guards nodded to her and opened the door for the group to walk in.
"Welcome digidestined," said a voice as they walked into the large thrown room, "I am Queen Karina."
Mimi and Yolie grinned with sparkles in their eyes as they looked upon the beautiful queen. The queen stood up and walked over to them. She wore a pure white gown with gold rim and a small golden tiara. Her long brown hair was done up with two elastics at her neck and the middle of her back.
The boys seemed fixated on her as she stood in front of them. Davis's mouth dropped and Sora hit him on the head when she noticed where he was looking. His face turned beet red when he himself noticed where he was looking and he looked away. His eyes came to a man standing quietly by the thrown the queen had just been sitting in. He had fairly long blond hair that seemed to be tied at the back. He glanced over at Davis and Davis felt a chill go up his spine.
"It is very nice to meet you your highness," Tai said bowing slightly to her, "We where wondering if you could help us."
"I will do what I can. What is it that you need?" she asked as though she didn't know. Tai knew by now that she probably knew for she had known they were coming.
"We're looking for two of our friends. My sister Kari and Matt's brother TK," Tai said motioning over to Matt.
"Do not worry about your friends. They are safe. They will return when the digital world has been purged of the evil that has been threatening it," Queen Karina explained.
"But we already got rid of the evil," Ken said.
"I'm afraid not. The evil still roams the digital world. He is not yet vanquished," she replied sadly.
"But what does that have to do with our friends?" Cody asked.
"Why can't they come back now?" Armadilomon added.
"All your questions will be answered when the time comes," Karina said.
"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Veemon asked in frustration.
"If we have to get rid of this evil to get TK and Kari back then that's what we're going to do," Matt said stepping forward.
"Good," Karina said turning to look back at the man standing by her thrown. She nodded to him and he nodded back to her and walked up calmly, "This is Taki. He is my advisor and protector. He will guide you on your journey to destroy the evil."
Davis looked at the man again. He was much too quiet for his liking. He made Davis nervous. Taki looked at Davis and Davis nervously looked away.
Caninemon walks up beside Taki along with another very similar digimon with black fur and wings.
"Hi I'm Houndmon," the black wolf like digimon smiled, "Let's get going."
Taki nodded and walked past the group towards the door, "Follow me."
Davis glared at the guy slightly then followed along with the others. Davis stepped up beside Tai and said, "I don't trust this guy. He gives me the goosebumps."
Tai shook his head, "He's just quiet. Nothing to get antsy about."
"Good luck my chosen ones," Karina whispered as the group walked out of the thrown room.
"Don't worry so much. You should know them better then that by now," came a voice as a small feline digimon walked out from behind her thrown, "They will win."
The elegant queen smiled at the small digimon, "You're right Katamon."
The group soon walked out of the castle just as the sun began to rise. They turned to see the great castle fade away.
"How are you going to get back to the castle, Taki?" Sora asked curiously.
"I will summon it when the evil is gone," he replied as he turned and began to walk, "We have no time to waste. Time isn't on our side."
"Darn!" Izzi said all of a sudden, "I forgot to ask how they made the castle disappear like that."
"Unlike your world the digital world doesn't run on science and technology. That goes for the castle as well. Queen Karina is able to gather energy from every living being in the village in order to transport it where she wishes," Taki explained calmly.
"So, Taki, are you… Human?" Mimi asked.
"No," Taki said a bit coldly.
From his reaction to the question Mimi decided not to ask what he was if he wasn't human. Perhaps she was prying too much.
Caninemon and Houndmon looked at Taki with disapproving glares. He didn't seem to care.
"This Queen Karina trusts this guy?" Davis asked as he walked beside Joe.
"He kind of reminds me of the way Matt use to be," Joe said watching Taki as he lead them.
"What if it's a trap?" Yolie asked coming up behind the two.
"I trust him," Sora said quietly, "There's just something about him."
Taki closed his eyes for a second and clenched his fists. He could hear them all clearly as they talked about him. He looked down and Houndmon's ears drooped slightly.
Taki stayed quiet as they walked and the digidestined stayed back from him talking to each other. They stopped for their meals eating berries and other things they found in the forest they were now in. Eventually the sky began to get dark as night enveloped the digital world.
"We should find somewhere to spend the night," Cody said looking in front of him to Taki.
"There is a clearing just up ahead," Taki said.
There were several sighs of happiness as they reached the clearing. The group laid out the sleeping bags they had brought with them and then Tai looked at the group, "I'll take first watch. Who's after me?"
"I'll go after you Tai," Matt said.
"I'll take the whole night watch," Taki said looking away into the forest.
"Huh?" Matt said looking over at the other blond.
"But you need your sleep," Sora said kindly.
"I don't sleep," Taki replied turning to look at her, "Me, Caninemon and Houndmon will take the watch. You needn't worry."
Davis looked over at Tai with a worried look. He still didn't trust this guy. What if it was a trap? He could send in an ambush while they were all sleeping.
"Ok then," Sora said with a smile, "You take watch."
"Sora," Mimi whispered to her, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"If you don't trust him then stay awake with him if you like. I'm going to bed," Sora replied as she sat down on her sleeping bag and prepared to go to sleep.
Taki nodded and jumped into a nearby tree to keep watch. Houndmon and Caninemon followed.
"Night," Tai said as he laid down on his sleeping bag. He didn't fall asleep, however, he was also having second thoughts about this guy. He decided to stay awake to see if they could trust this "Taki" person.
Many of the others stayed awake as well… for as long as they could hold out that is. They all soon fell asleep leaving Taki and his too digimon alone in the conscious world.
"You don't have to act so mean to them, Taki," Houndmon said to Taki.
"Yes I do… If I get too close to them they might find out who I am," he replied looking out at the night sky.
"Is that so bad?" Houndmon asked, "They're your friends. They're worried about you."
"We have to keep our identities a secret. They can't continue relying on us anymore. They need to find the power within them. The power that still lies dormant," Taki said looking down at the black furball.
"But T…" the black digimon began but was cut off by Taki's hand on his muzzle.
"Shh… Something's coming," Taki said narrowing his eyes and closing his eyes. The wind blew by blowing his hair back slightly as the three stayed as motionless as they could. Something was indeed coming. It was still far away but it was obvious that it was coming for them. Taki could feel the evil presence within the monster heading their way. He quickly jumped out of the tree doing a back flip as he did so and landed in a crouch, "Get up."
The others opened their eyes slowly and looked over at Taki. Tai bit his lip when he realised he'd fallen asleep. Taki looked around with his eyes narrowed and Tai got up quickly, "What is it?"
"There's a digimon on its way here. I can promise you that it's not on our side," Taki said standing up straight.
"Ready guys?" Tai asked looking at the others. They all got up quickly and their digimon stepped in front of them ready for action.